Links

Categories

Mahershala Ali is quickly becoming one of the freshest and most
in-demand faces in Hollywood with his extraordinarily diverse skill
set and wide-ranging background in film, television, and
theater.

On the big screen, Ali stars opposite Naomie Harris and Andre
Holland in Moonlight. The film, released in October of
2016, opened to rave reviews and praise of Mahershala. Mahershala
has thus far won a Critics’ Choice Award and a SAG Award for
“Best Supporting Actor”, as well as an Independent Spirit
Robert Altman Award for “Best Ensemble” on behalf of
Moonlight. Additionally, he has been nominated for an
Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA Award for his performance in the
film and has won over 20 Critics Groups Awards. Mahershala joined
the cast in Theodore Melfi’s Hidden Figures, opposite
Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, and Kevin
Costner, released December 25, 2016, which has so far won a SAG
Award for “Outstanding Ensemble in a Motion Picture”.
Mahershala also stars in Michael Larnell’s Roxanne
Roxanne with Chanté Adams, Nia Long, Elvis Nolasco, Kevin
Phillips and Shenell Edmonds, which premiered at Sundance on
January 22nd, and will join the cast in Robert
Rodriguez’s Alita: Battle Angel with Christoph Waltz,
set to be released in 2018.

Ali can also be seen starring in Netflix and Marvel
Entertainment’s Luke Cage in the role of Cornell
“Cottonmouth” Stokes. A Harlem nightclub owner, Stokes became
an unexpected foe in Luke’s life when Stokes’ criminal
activities threaten Luke’s world. Ali stars alongside Mike
Colter, Rosario Dawson, and Alfre Woodard.

Ali has previously been seen starring in Focus Features’
Kicks, which also premiered in September of 2016, and in
Gary Ross’s civil war era drama, The Free State of
Jones, opposite Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Keri
Russell.

In 2015, Ali reprised his role in The Hunger Games:
Mockingjay - Part 2, the fourth and final installment in the
critically and commercially acclaimed Hunger Games
franchise, alongside Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, and
Julianne Moore. As District 13’s Head of Security, ‘Boggs’,
Ali guides and protects Katniss (Lawrence) through the final stages
of the district’s rebellion against the Capitol.

Ali is known for his role on the award-winning Netflix original
series, House of Cards, where he reprised his fan-favorite
role as lobbyist Remy Danton, who went on to become Chief of Staff
in the fourth season. He has been nominated for a Critics Choice
Award and Emmy for his work on the show.

Ali’s previous feature film credits include Derek
Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines opposite Ryan
Gosling and Bradley Cooper, Wayne Kramer’s Crossing Over
starring Harrison Ford, John Sayles’ Go For Sisters, and
David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

On television, he appeared opposite Julia Ormond in Lifetime’s
The Wronged Man for which he subsequently received a NAACP
Nomination for Best Actor. Ali also had a large recurring role on
Syfy’s Alphas, as well as the role of Richard Tyler, a
Korean War pilot, on the critically acclaimed drama, The
4400, for three seasons.

On the stage, Ali appeared in productions of Blues for an
Alabama Sky, The School for Scandal,A Lie of the
Mind, A Doll’s House, Monkey in the
Middle, The Merchant of Venice, The New
Place, and Secret Injury, Secret Revenge. His
additional stage credits include appearing in Washington, D.C. at
the Arena Stage in the title role of The Great White Hope,
and in The Long Walk and Jack and Jill. He also
recently completed his starring run in the off-Broadway play,
Smart People, for which he received rave reviews.

Originally from Hayward, California, Ali received his Bachelor
of Arts degree in Mass Communications at St. Mary’s College. He
made his professional debut performing with the California
Shakespeare Festival in Orinda, California. Soon after, he earned
his Master’s degree in acting from New York University’s
prestigious graduate program.

Mahershala Ali Won't Let Politics Spoil His Sense Of Hope: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Mahershala Ali Interview on 'Moonlight': Good Morning America

Mahershala Ali Acceptance Speech | 23rd SAG Awards

There’s not actually a golden light shining down on Mahershala
Ali from the ceiling of the Santa Monica café where I first meet
him, but it feels like there is. He looks in real life the way old
MGM movies made leading… Read more

Over breakfast one Sunday, the actor Mahershala Ali ordered a
healthy egg-white omelet, studiously avoiding a basket of
complimentary, carb-loaded pastries. Life is full of such choices,
and as he described his decision to leave the Netflix drama
“House of Cards,” it… Read more

The supporting actor nominee reveals how his "melancholy"
upbringing — including his parents' split when he was 3 and
growing up around drug dealers — led him on a path to becoming
Muslim and speaking out at the SAG Awards in the… Read more